With Atlas regaining consciousness, it was the start of hell for everyone. Or rather, for those who had been complaining to Lola about labor abuse. Not because Atlas had joined the investigation. If anything, he stepped back so as not to anger his wife.
So why did everyone else feel like they were in hell?
Because when Atlas woke up, Lola’s motivation lit up so fiercely that even hell itself would feel cooler. The reasoning?
She wanted them to make her look good in front of her husband.
Despite all that, the work hastened to a degree that was almost impossible. Thanks to that, the other founding families didn’t need to worry about it for now and could recover well from their near-death experience... and focus on rebuilding their losses and their own families.
Now...
Lola stood in the morgue as she watched one of the doctors pull out one of the bodies from their fridge. She swallowed slightly as a person underneath a thin blanket was revealed. Then, the person in charge lifted the blanket to show Lola the person’s face for identification.
"..."
Her lips pressed into a thin line as she stared at the corpse, whose other half of the face was burned and crushed. Even with the blanket, she could tell that the body was no longer complete.
"Mhm," she humd, her eyes still fixed on the corpse even as she nodded. "That’s... that’s her."
That was lissa Young.
It had been a full week since the holy ground burned and crumbled to the ground. With all the damage and the chaos, it took a lot of ti. At least, for her. But others would say that was quick work.
"She was found under one of the bigger ruins," the person explained quietly. "It seed she was thrown away when the bomb detonated and ended up under one of the falling pillars."
Lola took her ti before whispering, "Isn’t that karma?"
Before all of this, lissa had been blaming a stupid pillar for her incompetence. And now, it was a pillar that fell on her and took her life.
"Can I have a mont, please?" She asked softly as she faced the other person.
The latter nodded quietly and walked away without another word, leaving Lola with lissa’s body. Once alone, Lola’s eyes fell on lissa’s half-burnt face.
Her lips parted as if to say sothing, only to close again. Lola didn’t know what she should tell lissa, or if there was anything she wanted to say at all. She didn’t even know why she had asked for a mont.
A quiet sigh escaped her before she finally gathered her thoughts.
"It’s a good thing only half of your face was burnt and crushed," she muttered. "Otherwise, I’d have to go through a lot of hassle to make sure you’re dead."
Cold as it might be, Lola learned a lot of lessons from this. Or rather, she was reminded of many things as well. One of them was why she should never show rcy to her enemies.
Otherwise, it would just open the door to an endless cycle of revenge.
"Though... deep in my heart, I was hopeful you’d changed," she sighed quietly once more. "That you’d see the downfall of the Young family as an opportunity to start over—to learn, to change for the better, and... to regain control over your life."
She huffed sharply and carefully took another step back, staring at lissa’s side profile until the burnt part was no longer visible.
"Anyway, even if you survived this, you’d still die eventually," she muttered. "The drugs they fed you were slowly killing you. You didn’t have much ti left to live."
With that, she turned on her heel. But before she took a step, she spoke.
"Goodbye, lissa," she whispered. "In our next life, let’s never cross paths again."
Lola walked away, leaving lissa’s corpse in the morgue without any plans to take her back to Novera or to Lawrence. lissa had made a decision: she abandoned Lawrence, left behind the chance to start anew and live a life she could finally call her own, and shook hands with the devil.
Once Lola walked out of the morgue, she stopped when she saw Haji peel his back from the wall. She smiled as she approached him, only to continue walking as he followed her.
"So, it’s her?" he asked languidly. "She’s dead, isn’t she?"
"Mhm."
"Wow... that’s a relief!" he intoned, catching her giving him a side-eye. "What? Don’t tell you’re sad she’s dead? Hey, Lola. Don’t forget that witch wanted you dead. If she were alive, she’d already be plotting her revenge!"
Lola chuckled. "I’m not saying I’m not relieved, but I don’t think celebrating it is proper."
"When were you ever proper?"
"Hmm..." she humd and thought about it, only for Haji to wave a hand.
"Eh! Don’t think! I don’t want to know." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I heard about the DNA analysis on the other two people who were found near the safe room."
He then leaned closer to her side, making her stop montarily.
"Why are you leaning toward like this?" she asked with an arched brow. "Haji, it’s too late for you to woo . You’ve turned off too much already."
"Wow... didn’t you get goosebumps saying that? Even if you’re the last woman in the world, I would never. I’d rather die." His face twisted. "What I’m saying is, I got to see the results."
"How? Allen should be handling that."
Haji smirked and winked at her. "I learned a trick—a few tricks—from Yuri."
"Huh..."
"Want to hear the results?"
Lola studied the excitent on his face with narrowed eyes, tilting her head slightly. "Are you really that excited to report this?"
"Hah!" he huffed, then laughed. "Hahaha! Of course! Everyone else already knows about it, so who else should I share this with? You’re the perfect target."
"You..." She shook her head and resud her steps. "Stop hanging out with Hugo, Slater, and Penny’s bodyguards. There’s a reason I partnered you with Izu—to keep you as pristine as I can."
"Pristine my ass! That pristine Izu is already being corrupted the second you asked us to guard those guards’ ward. They just bet on every damn thing," he clicked his tongue and marched toward her. "But seriously, the reports from that analysis are already out."
"I know."
"Huh?"
"They confird that the bodies found near the safe room were Iris Bellemonte and the cardinal," she answered, making his steps halt while she continued walking.
"So you knew!?" he gasped, watching her slow down. "If so, why didn’t you say so?"
Lola looked back at him. "You looked excited." She smirked. "Isn’t that what friends are for? I’m a good friend."
With that, she resud her steps and waved. "Stop slacking. We’re almost done, Haji." Her steps slowed once more as she looked back at him, smiling. "Almost done with this last ride to hell."
Having said that, Lola chuckled as she walked away. anwhile, Haji was left standing in the sa spot, shaking his head.
"One last ride to hell?" he muttered, snorting. He stared at her figure and took a large step after her, muttering, "How is it one last ride to hell when we’re not quitting yet? Hey! Wait for , Good Friend!"
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